Exclusive: An Indian Daughter Sold to Sheikh for 2.5 Lakh in Dubai Evacuates

Heena was threatened that her hands and feets would be chopped off and be thrown away to an untraceable location if she tried to run away from the place

– by Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, May 10, 2017: Every young girl in India fancies of traveling overseas in the wake of fulfilling her hopes. It takes only a passage of deceived time for the travel agents to thwart someone’s coveted dream into the worst nightmare. Human Trafficking is the common sight in India. It is the third largest crime after drugs and arms trade across the globe.

The majority of the trafficking victims are those from the most disadvantaged social strata. And as we take women and girls into the account, the victims are especially the ones from excluded group thus making them vulnerable to the traffickers.If you are born into a poor family, you have a fair chance of being sold and if you are a girl which is born into a poor family then the risk of getting sold increases a thousand folds.

Every now and then, young naive girls from India are streamed overseas to solicit the Arab clientele. On the similar grounds, such is a story of the brave Heena, 20 from Jalandhar, Punjab who was sold to Sheikh for 2.5 Lakhs. Just like an ordinary lower class girl, she dreamt of a well-appointed life for herself and her family.

Heena broke the silence in front of the public on May 09 in a press conference arranged by the Helping Hapless, an NGO which seeks to evacuate the victims of Human Trafficking from the Arab countries.

Heena is the sole daughter of her parents and was sent to Dubai through a Travel Agent from Jalandhar who took 2.5 lakh from the girl’s parents. She was promised the job of a Dental Assistant in Dubai. However, on reaching Dubai she was shockingly introduced to the hard-hitting truth of trafficking. Heena was kept locked in a room for days by the harbourers and was later sent to the home of Mohammed Abdullah as a domestic helper. She was mauled several times whenever she requested for a break. Heena has bruises all over the skin of the torment she had to face during her stay to the spiteful place.

“I was given the leftover food to eat. They made me work for twenty hours a day and there were times when I used to ask them to give me rest and was beaten straightaway. I was burnt with the electric press every time I asked them for any favor. They told me to pay 2.5 lakhs If I want to be released.” said Heena.

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Heena was threatened that her hands and feets would be chopped off and be thrown away to an untraceable location if she tried to run away from the place. Wretched with circumstances, Heena withdrew all her hopes to see her family ever again in life. One day Heena got her hands on WhatsApp and she then tried to contact her father. She sent all the pictures of her bruises as a proof to let her father know of the miserable condition she has succumbed to at the cost of earning more. Heena’s father then approached to Ms Amanjot Roomawalia, President of NGO Helping Hapless to solicit for help.

Ms. Roomawalia on March 27 wrote to the Indian High Commissioner, Mr Navdeep Suri to help her bring India’s daughter back to her country. Finally, on 28th April, Dubai Police brought Heena back from the clutch of her employer Mohammed Abdullah.

“There are nearly about 4-5 cases of Human Trafficking being reported every month. And it takes 2-6 months to evacuate the victims.” told the President of NGO to Newsgram.

The situation of Human Trafficking in India is startling and frightful. Thousands of Indians both Men and Women are sold in Arab Countries and are made to live a life of slavery.

Parents think that sending their kids to middle east means a better life in terms of high salary and employment opportunities. However, such is not the case and many fall prey to the traps of false well-acquainted life.

What should be expected from the government is to build tight grounds against the traffickers. A mere justice to the victims take years which is again a question on the hollow system of law and order of the country.